consonant
Other forms: consonants; consonantly
A consonant is a speech sound that is not a vowel. It also refers to letters of the alphabet that represent those sounds: Z, B, T, G, and H are all consonants.
Consonants are all the non-vowel sounds, or their corresponding letters: A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y are not consonants. In hat, H and T are consonants. Consonant can also be an adjective that describes things that seem like they should go together, things that are "agreeable." You could say a nation's offer of aid is consonant with their treaties. When you hear consonant sounds in music, they are pleasing, the opposite of "dissonant" sounds which are harsh.
-
a speech sound that is not a vowel
-
Antonyms:
-
vowel, vowel sound
a speech sound made with the vocal tract open
-
types:
- show 17 types...
- hide 17 types...
-
alveolar, alveolar consonant, dental, dental consonant
a consonant articulated with the tip of the tongue near the gum ridge
-
obstruent
a consonant that is produced with a partial or complete blockage of the airflow from the lungs through the nose or mouth
-
aspirate
a consonant pronounced with aspiration
-
labial, labial consonant
a consonant whose articulation involves movement of the lips
-
labiodental, labiodental consonant
a consonant whose articulation involves the lips and teeth
-
nasal, nasal consonant
a consonant produced through the nose with the mouth closed
-
lingual
a consonant that is produced with the tongue and other speech organs
-
liquid
a frictionless continuant that is not a nasal consonant (especially `l' and `r')
-
geminate
a doubled or long consonant
-
surd, voiceless consonant
a consonant produced without sound from the vocal cords
-
velar, velar consonant
a consonant produced with the back of the tongue touching or near the soft palate
-
guttural, guttural consonant, pharyngeal, pharyngeal consonant
a consonant articulated in the back of the mouth or throat
-
occlusive, plosive, plosive consonant, plosive speech sound, stop, stop consonant
a consonant produced by stopping the flow of air at some point and suddenly releasing it
-
bilabial
a consonant that is articulated using both lips; /p/ or /b/ or /w/
-
labial stop
a stop consonant that is produced with the lips
-
continuant, continuant consonant
consonant articulated by constricting (but not closing) the vocal tract
-
affricate, affricate consonant, affricative
a composite speech sound consisting of a stop and a fricative articulated at the same point (as `ch' in `chair' and `j' in `joy')
-
type of:
-
phone, sound, speech sound
(phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language
-
vowel, vowel sound
-
a letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken consonant
-
type of:
-
alphabetic character, letter, letter of the alphabet
the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech
-
alphabetic character, letter, letter of the alphabet
-
involving or characterized by harmony
-
synonyms:
harmonic, harmonical, harmonised, harmonized
-
harmonious
musically pleasing
-
harmonious
-
in keeping
-
synonyms:
accordant, agreeable, concordant, conformable
-
consistent
(sometimes followed by `with') in agreement or consistent or reliable
-
consistent
/ˈkɑnsənənt/
/ˈkɒnsənənt/
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing consonant
Third-grader Maggie Schultz decides she does not want to learn how to read and write cursive.
In this autobiography, first published in 1789, Olaudah Equiano recounts his life as an enslaved person and then as a free man.
This list covers "After Being Convicted Of Voting In The 1872 Presidential Election," "Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen," and The Federalist Papers, No. 10.
Look up consonant for the last time
Close your vocabulary gaps with personalized learning that focuses on teaching the words you need to know.
